DEVELOPMENTS IN BATTERY RECYCLING - 05 Hyundai Canada Partners with Lithion

The Canadian government views the digital energy transformation brought by new technologies as a significant opportunity for economic growth and regional development. Canada is working strategically to leverage these advancements, not only in batteries but also in other emerging technologies like solar panels, wind turbines, semiconductors, and similar areas that define the realities of new economic and social frameworks. Similar initiatives are also underway in other countries.

In 2021, the Canadian government released a report titled From Exploration to Recycling: Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy – Powering the Green and Digital Economy for Canada and the World. The report outlines how Canada plans to utilize critical minerals essential for battery and semiconductor technologies. In the report's summary introduction, Canada’s role in critical minerals is described as follows:

"By enhancing Canadian expertise at every point of the critical mineral value chain—from mining to manufacturing to recycling—we will create good jobs, build a strong, globally competitive Canadian economy, and take real action to combat climate change. As a result of this strategy, we will better position Canada as a reliable supplier of critical mineral resources to our allies."

The full report—which we will analyze in greater detail in another article—includes detailed strategies for areas ranging from mineral exploration to battery and electric vehicle manufacturing. These strategies are concretely expressed in the financial support allocated to each area. Notably, the largest share, amounting to 1.5 billion Canadian dollars, is dedicated to production technologies, including recycling technologies. The size of this investment reflects the government's awareness of the resources required for research and development in production and recycling technologies. However, when the report was published, there were no operational hydrometallurgical facilities in Canada.

Progress in 2024

By 2024, it appears that Canada’s incentive policies are starting to yield results. One notable development is the partnership between Lithion Technologies, a Canadian recycling firm, and Hyundai, a South Korean automaker. Hyundai Auto Canada, the Canadian branch of Hyundai Motor Company responsible for vehicle production and distribution, has established Lithion as its official recycling partner for electric vehicle batteries.

This partnership follows a 2021 agreement that approved Lithion's recycling technology. Under the new contract, Lithion will collaborate with over 250 Hyundai dealerships across Canada to collect and recycle lithium-ion batteries.

Collection, Transportation, and Dismantling

As part of the agreement, Lithion will handle not only the collection but also the transportation and dismantling of used batteries within Canada. The collected batteries will be processed at Lithion’s new recycling facility in Saint-Bruno, near Montreal. The facility, which began operations in mid-2024, is reported to have an annual capacity to process 20,000 tons of batteries into black mass.

Lithion claims its recycling technology can recover 98% of the minerals contained in batteries. The company primarily extracts lithium carbonate, nickel sulfate, and cobalt sulfate from recycled batteries.

Hydrometallurgical Facility Under Construction

According to the company’s website, the Saint-Bruno facility currently processes batteries into black mass. However, the hydrometallurgical plant is still under construction. As seen in the shared renderings of the facility, there is no detailed information about the process itself—only the intended exterior design of the building is provided.

The most critical aspect of battery recycling lies in ensuring that the hydrometallurgical facility operates efficiently both economically and environmentally. Among the recycling technologies we have previously discussed, hydrometallurgy is likely to garner the most interest from automakers. This is because the process is efficient and yields raw materials meaningful for the automotive industry.

It is evident that many automakers are already collaborating on joint projects with recycling technology firms developing or investing in such processes. The question of why automakers are not undertaking these efforts independently will be explored in the upcoming parts of this series.